BMW slows US production due to transmission supply

A latest report by Reuters indicates that the BMW has slowed its U.S. production at Spartanburg, SC, plant due to the flight restrictions in Europe …

A latest report by Reuters indicates that the BMW has slowed its U.S. production at Spartanburg, SC, plant due to the flight restrictions in Europe caused by the ash from the volcanic eruption in Iceland which affected the deliveries of transmissions.

The South Carolina-based plant produces about 600 X5 and X6 vehicles per day and the total units exported accounts for 70 percent.

According to Reuters and quoting Bobby Hitt, spokesman for BMW plant in Spartanburg, due to recent strong demand, lead times in Europe on transmissions have shortened and BMW over the last few weeks has had them flown to the United States instead of shipped by boat to keep up schedules.

On Monday, BMW told workers it would slow production while maintaining its normal shift schedule and take “extraordinary measures” to ship transmissions to southern Europe for flights to the U.S. to maintain production, Hitt said.

From Monday through Thursday, BMW normally runs two 10-hour shifts at the Spartanburg plant and one shift on Friday.

65 percent of the parts assembled at the Spartanburg plant are sourced from North America, with the other 35 percent of the value coming mainly from engines and transmissions shipped from Europe by boat.

Sending transmissions by air freight is an extraordinary measure to begin with, unless they are referring to very specific parts (eg, high-performance shifter boots) that held up assembly at the destination plant. I cannot imagine shipping transmissions on anything but slow-boat freight.

Regarding the picture, any idea which specific transmission this is? It’s always interesting to see these mechanical views.